A 15-year-old Wisconsin high school shooter who killed two and injured six at a conservative Christian school reportedly had a disturbing fascination with death, fueled by her activity on a morbid online forum called “Watch People Die.” Natalie Samantha Rupnow, who later turned the gun on herself, succumbed to her injuries en route to the hospital, leaving behind chilling clues to her state of mind.
The shooting occurred at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison on Tuesday during a study hall session. Armed with a handgun, Rupnow opened fire in a classroom, killing a teacher and a teenage student while injuring four others, including three students and a teacher. Investigators have yet to determine her motive but have uncovered a digital trail that paints a haunting portrait of a troubled teen.
‘Gotta be thinking of something while hanging himself’
As per the New York Post report, under the username @Crossixir, Rupnow was an active participant on “Watch People Die,” a graphic site with over three million registered users. The platform hosts videos of fatal incidents, including shootings, suicides, and industrial accidents.
In one post, Rupnow commented on a video of a hanging: “Gotta be thinking of something while hanging himself.” When another user asked her to elaborate, she added, “I wonder what a lot of people think before they die, you know? Like just simply if it’s if they want to die at all or just nothing… Only thing I would bother to think of is just do it already if I was killing myself but depends on the situation.”
Her posts reflected a morbid curiosity about death and a potential fascination with school shooters, reported the Post. Photos from her father Jeff Rupnow’s Facebook account show Samantha wearing a T-shirt featuring the German industrial band KMFDM—a band linked to Columbine shooter Eric Harris, further fueling speculation that she was inspired by the 1999 massacre.
‘Fat version of Liam Payne’
One month before the attack, Rupnow commented on a video of a man jumping through a window, likening it to “a fat version of Liam Payne,” the One Direction singer who tragically fell to his death from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony. Other site content included videos titled “suicidal man offs himself in front of cops” and “worker gets crushed trying to stop a forklift falling over.”
By Wednesday morning, @Crossixir had been banned from the site, whose administrator ironically advises users to “log off” and “read a book or something.”
Faith amid tragedy
Abundant Life Christian School, a founding member of Impact Christian Schools, has expressed unwavering faith in the face of tragedy. Speaking at a press conference, Barbara Wiers, the Elementary and Schools Relations Director, said, “In spite of tragedy, God is working, and we believe that God is good in everything and that he turns beauty into ashes.”
Meanwhile, the school community mourns the loss and grapples with the devastating aftermath of an attack by one of their own.